REVIEW.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2503, 29 March 1881, Page 4

REVIEW.

“ THE COLONIST: a work on the Past and Present Condition of New Zealand,” by William Bateman. J. T,

Smith and Co. • . . Our acquaintance with Mr Bateman warranted us in expecting an able work from his pen, and “ The Colonist ” has justified our expectation. It is a comprehensive and ■ practical w'ork that cannot fail to interest and instruct the industrial classes of this country. It has no pretence to literary excellence, being rather of the nature of a financial statement and, statistical digest. “The Colonist ” is got up in a very creditable manner ; the type, binding, and general appearance are unexceptionable. It is dedicated to to “ Captain Alfred Selby,’ in grateful remembrance of his saving the life of the author from drowning ”•*— a gentleman with whom we have also had the pleasure of an acquaintance, and whose enthusiasm as an angler we well recollect.

The three first chapters of the work are introductory, and call for no special remark, being devoted to historical and topographical information. The fourth chapter really begins the work.- The classification of land, population, manufactures, progress, are concisely treated of, and fittingly introduce 'the review of the present condition of the colony, which follows; Mr Bateman has “ evidently formed a very high estimate of Sir Julius Vogel and hie immigration policy. Whether events have borne out the rosy predictions of Sir Julius, as Mr Bateman evidently thinks they have, is a subject upon which considerable difference of opinion exists. It will hardly.be denied that “ if the immigrants could settle down and support; themselves, immigration would be a profit to the State.’’ Whether our immigration policy has been successfully carried out, so as to ensure the arrival amongst us of desirable persons, is quite another matter. Sir Julius prophesied as to the cost of immigration That expenditure will be essentially and immediately profitable. Has the cost been '“reproductive,” that is the question ? Vogel’s railway scheme was a “masterly” one as Mr Bateman says,' But like a good many masterly ideas it did’nt turn out altogether a practicable one : ; •, Provision was made for the payment of the interest out of the earnings of the railways ; and also that a portion of the money should be set aside for that purpose from the Crown lands yearly, and which would be greatly enhanced in value by opening up the Country to the extent of 2,500,000 acres, in the several districts, by means of railroads. Bv such a statesman-like course, the ; works upon which this proposed loan of £8,500,000 were to he spent would, in themselves, if judiciously expended, and the railways properly managed, have been of a highly reproductive kind.: i . _ It is one of our chief delights, in fact, almost the only one left us in these hard times, to contemplate the schemes of the great financier and follow them into the glorious region of prosperity and success, to which they were warranted to conduct the nation, but which we seem to be a long time reaching. The principal which. obtained all over the colony seemed to f have been—borrow 1 borrow 1 borrow I and this, too, without tho

fore-thought characteristic of _ the true statesman. The reckless expenditure of the borrowed money, in the end, brought forth its inevitable fruit, as it always does in the case of both individuals and nations who overstep the bounds of prudence. Truly it shall go hard with us, but we will better the instructions ! Who taught us to borrow ? The following Graphic picture makes one’s hair stand on end. What about the “ truth and justice, religion and ■ piety” of the Government that held the seals’of office during this terrible time ? *' Government, at length, even resorted to the inexpedient and extremely injudicious measure of monopolising the funds deposited by the public in the various Post-Office Savings Banks in the colony. Not content with this, it even went further and appropriated the major portion of the Government Life Assurance fund, as

may be seen from the following :—The Government; apart from the great taste it had acquired for borrowing from the British money len iers, did not stop here. It appears, from the published returns, that the Government from time to time had found its way, without the slightest compunction, to actually exchanging its own Treasury Bills for a large portion of the hard earned savings of the thrifty people. By the state records, furnished to the public through leading journals, on June 30, 1879, the Government Life Assurance Account showed a deposit of £363,066 Os 9d. The Post Office Bank, on December 31, of the same year, had £787,00,5 19s Od, deposits belonging to the

frugal people. It is shown that out of the funds of the former, Government absorbed £277,400, for which it exchanged its own Treasury Bills ; and out of the funds of the latter,it wasnot content with using £535,911 6s 4d in various bonds and obligations of the colony, but sucked from the funds—a still further sum of £110,500, in exchange for an additional issue of Treasury Bills. The outcome of this is, that the Government took for state purposes over seventy-

six 2 )cr eent. the entire funds of the former, and over eighty-two 2 >cr cent, of the latter I Taking the hard savings of the people at this dark period, certainly does not redound to their renown as contrailers of funds which were held by them as trust money. It is almost unnecessary to dilate upon the danger of such a course when at that very critical period, if thetrue state of the position of the mismanaged affairs of this highly productive young colony had been known in England, it is extremely questionable whether the last loan would have been negotiated. As a result, it is probable that the colony would have been totally incapable of taking up its Treasury Bills, issued for the small but hard earned savings of the people, which had been deposited in the Post-office Savings Banks,and placed there under the distinct understanding of being, drawn out as required.” Sir George Grey evidently occupies no lofty position in the estimation of Mr Bateman. There is something scorching iin this paragraph having reference to the great pro-consnl: — There is no bounds, however, to the eccentricities of men who, for the greater portion of their political career, have always endeavored to augment their own importance at the expense of the State. The following item is not amusing or cheering, but it is instructive and speaks for itself ; - Cost of Government Colony. per head of population. £ s. d.

On our reproductive works Mr Bateman does not say anything severe, but he quietly submits certain tabulated statements which set one thinking. Victoria spent on railways a little over £17,000,000, and is earning (gross) £1,216,675, Few Zealand having spent close on £29,000,000, earns three quarters of a million ! We have got accustomed to grumblings at the “law’s delay and insolence of office,” justices’^justice and the like, but our author “ gives it mouth ” in uncompromising style. We are bound to say that with his comment on the E. M. Courts of New Zealand at least we totally disagree. With onebr' two exceptions the presiding spirits of these lower Courts are capable and conscientious men, not always strong in technicalities, but possessed of strong common sense and reasoning powers, and fundamental knowledge, which are of much more-importance in dealing with the generality of cases that come before the inferior Courts. We are heartily with our author, though in his denunciation of the system of committing people to prison on the slenderest ' evidence out of which a prima facie case can be made but. The administration of the - law has hitherto been most unsatisfactory to the colony. The Crown Charter, makes the people amenable to the' British law ; but its administration in the Courts having limited jurisdiction is in the hands of gentlemen who are termed ■ Resident Magistrates, ; and who are appointed and paid by the State. As a rule they are laymen, and have never been educated in the intricacies of, even common law, and therefore are utterly incompetent to administrate British law. 4 n 4 yot) as such, many 'of them have been elevated to a position of 'adjudicating on public business and the freedom of the subject.., This responsible duty can only be properly discharged by men who are qualified to perform the judicial duties of the Bench, Were the jurisdictions! of these amateur administrators of the British law limited to civil cases of a minimum amount, little or no great harm would result to litigants ; even in cases where a miscarriage of justice took place from,its ignorant administration, an appeal to the higher judicial functionaries would, in a great measure, remedy the evil. But the case is very different in regard to criminal law. Fora layman 'to 'perform the legal functions in criminal oases is not only thoroughly un-British, but is highly degrading to the country in which the system obtains in these days of civilisation” ; . . . Mr Bateman’s most emphatic style is called into play when he vouches upon the qucßatio vexata, 1 ' Protection v. Free Trade.” He gives out his text with unmistakeable plainness. , “ The protective system is as fallacious as it is plausible—the principle is a bad and most iniquitious one afid is calculated to retard the progress of a young country.” The great argument used against protective legislation ; is that the protection of one industry is liable to cause an undesirable inequality of prosperity, one industry being supported at the.expense of another. This view, we believe, the Royal Commission took of the case. The removal of a protective duty from timber and breadstuffs is claimed to be a liberal and well advised measure.

Although, we entirely disagree with some of Mr Bateman’s views, and notably those in reference to this question of protection, we feel bound to admit that his book is a very exhaustive and practical treatise, and we commend it to every one. interested in the material pro. aperity of the country. Particularly we would counsel every high officialof the Kail way Department to buy a copy, and “ chew and digest” it at leisure.

Victoria .. .. 5 5 4f New South Wales.. .. 8 3 6 Queensland .. 7 6 8 South Australia .. .. 6 10 2 Western Australia .. .. 7 0 8i Tasmania .. 3 8 4 New Zealand .. 9 16 , 2 i